What's the Opposite of a Fairy Tale? | ONC 2024

13. The Corvidae

Now that I had Gabe and Olivia on my side, I decided it was high time I took action. I'd spent far too long sleeping outside, resigned to my fate. And sure, Olivia had graciously offered to sneak me back into her room tonight— which was an unequivocal step up, and one I would definitely be taking advantage of— but it still wasn't my own room. I wanted that back; I wanted my life back. All of this had to end, and the first step was to find the stupid cat who'd done this to me in the first place.

While I went to track him down, Gabe and Olivia figured they'd grab a quick bite to eat. We agreed to meet up after. Even better, they promised to sneak something out for me.

"Any requests?" Gabe wheezed, wiping his eye on his sleeve. "Pizza?"

Olivia wordlessly handed him a tissue.

I shook my head at him. Since I'd been outside, almost fifty percent of my meals had been pizza. And to be honest, it was starting to get to me; I was pretty sure it was even worse for my digestive system now than it normally was. What I really wanted was some actual food— something that had never seen the inside of a microwave.

Chicken? Apple? I typed. A thought occurred to me, and I quickly turned back to the computer. Not nuggets. Real food.

"Consider it done," Gabe nodded before dissolving into a fit of coughs.

I hopped off the bench, trying to give him some space. I hadn't gone within about three feet of him, but he was clearly starting to be affected by whatever cat hair was in the air.

"Thanks," he mumbled hoarsely. "Sorry."

I shrugged; it wasn't his fault. Actually, I was probably the one who should be sorry since it was literally me he was allergic to.

"So, see you at the bookstore in an hour?" Oliva asked. We'd agreed to meet up there since I didn't have a phone— or any other way to tell time. But there was a giant clock tower that rose from its side, so I'd be able to use that.

I nodded. "Bye," I mewed.

"See ya," Olivia said.

Gabe waved, smothering a cough as he did.

When they'd first figured out who I was, I'd been a little embarrassed about trying to talk to them. But I'd managed to get over that somewhat early on, especially since it was either meowing occasionally or saying nothing at all. And with context, I was even pretty sure they understood some of what I'd said.

After saying our goodbyes, I took off. It was good to finally have a purpose other than scrounging for food. First, I decided to check the pathway behind the English building— where I'd been cursed in the first place. There'd been a ton of cats the last time I'd been there, so I figured it was a pretty safe bet that there'd be someone there this time, too. I hadn't been all that fond of the place, but what could they really do to me? It wasn't like they could curse me again.

Unfortunately, Neither Comet nor Rain were there. Fortunately, there was an orange tabby cat walking gingerly on the top of the dumpster.

"Hey!" I called up to it. The cat lazily turned to stare down at me.

"...Yes?" it asked, dragging the word out and sounding annoyed that I'd interrupted whatever it had been doing.

"I'm looking for someone. Do you know Comet?"

"Who?"

"Comet. Black cat, pinkish eyes."

The tabby stared down at me, expressionless.